Source: Bu Yidao
Written by Zanpakuo Taotao
The first non-white leader in the UK, the first Hindus to hold the highest position, the youngest prime minister in more than 200 years... The 42-year-old Sunak , succeeded Tras and became the new British prime minister.
Today's Britain has just experienced a "shortest life cabinet": the 45-day Trass government left a mess.
The British people have just experienced a "dissatisfied summer": inflation rate is as high as 9.4%, energy prices soaring 57%, and the government's ability to govern is generally questioned.
In the upcoming "Winter of Dissatisfaction", can Sunak solve the British plight?
is just, it only takes two years for Conservatives .
01
"Faith at any cost", "British Economic Jedi", "Santa Claus in Protective Suit", "Sexy and Charming Rich"... Sunak, active on social media, has 710,000 fans, and they have given him a lot of nicknames.
In the eyes of these supporters, Sunak is the "safe hand" to save the British economy from the fire and fire.
In February 2020, Sunak, the youngest owner of the Caixiang Official Residence, No. 511, Downing Street, , was asked how to save the economy that was hit hard by the epidemic, his answer was: "At any cost."
Moreover, Sunak accurately predicted the market crisis that the Trass policy might cause. He believes that curbing the surge in inflation is a more important priority, but Tras promises to cut taxes immediately, which is tantamount to a "fairy tale".
Just, will Sunak be a "splenishment" for the UK today?
Gao Jian, director of the British Research Center of Shanghai International Studies University, told Buyidao that for Sunak, this is a winning election without competitors. This just shows the depletion of the Conservative Party's political resource , and shows that the chaos in Britain has reached a point where it cannot be messy and difficult to deal with.
There are people within the Conservative Party who can challenge Sunak, but many people know that at this time, there will be considerable political costs and considerable political risks.
Sunak won the election because he had already competed with Tras and had reached the final stage. In addition, he had a background and background knowledge of the financial minister, so he received support from the Conservative Party to a certain extent. But don't forget that Tras had received support from the Conservative Party before, but he still stepped down after only 45 days of work.
Whether Sunak can reverse the extremely difficult political crisis of the Conservative Party this time is really a big question mark.
It is undeniable that Sunak has a brilliant resume:
High School is studying at Winchester Public School , one of the nine major public schools in the UK with the oldest history of . Then enter Lincoln College, , Oxford University, , majoring in philosophy, politics and economics. After leaving campus, he did not choose to further his studies immediately, but instead joined Goldman Sachs and hedge fund companies, and obtained an MBA degree from Stanford University's Business School at the age of 26.
It was at Stanford that Sunak met his future wife, "daughter of Indian Gates", Akshata Murthy. Afterwards, he also obtained a US green card, and he gave up his green card under pressure until he became the Prime Minister of Finance.
Sunak entered politics at the age of 35, but his rise was extraordinary and fast. It took only 7 years to get into No. 10 Downing Street .
Fitness and following the right person is considered to be two traits that distinguish Sunak from other politicians.
Sunak has been deliberately downplaying his identity as a rich man and elite background. Although the couple's net worth is 730 million pounds, it was revealed that when they were 21 years old, they hinted that "no working-class friends."
"Create the same chances of success for voters just as parents create opportunities for themselves." Sunak frequently mentioned this sentence in the campaign.
He also often recalls: "I worked in a store since I was a child", "I worked as a waiter in an Indian restaurant"...
After entering politics, Sunak was considered to be the "direct line" and "hard supporter" of Johnson , and the latter pushed Sunak into the eyes of everyone.
Johnson appointed Sunak as Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Finance as soon as he replaced Theresa May ; he became the Minister of Finance in February next year.
However, Johnson's resignation as prime minister has a direct relationship with Sunak. It was Sunak and then-Health Minister Javid who resigned almost at the same time, triggering a chain reaction. About 50 government members resigned one after another within 48 hours, and Johnson was forced to step down.
This is also regarded by many people as a "political stain" of Sunak.
02
In addition, Sunak's Indian identity has also been questioned.
Sunak was born in 1980 in an Indian immigrant family in Southampton, England. His parents both grew up in East Africa , and their ancestral home is Punjab, India. It was only in the 1960s that his ancestors traveled to the UK with their respective families.
His skin color made many Indians thousands of miles away feel close.
htmlOn the 224th, the Indian media were also watching whether Sunak could be successfully elected.
This day is the biggest festival in India. Later the day before, the Indian men's cricket team just defeated their rivals Pakistan in the T20 World Cup final. But this does not prevent the news that "Sunak is expected to take over as British Prime Minister " has occupied the front pages of major Indian newspapers and has made headlines on most Indian English websites.
"Why is the mainstream media of India so enthusiastic about Sunak being elected as the British Prime Minister?"
Some Indians expressed confusion on social media, believing that "Sunak is not an Indian" and "this has nothing to do with India." They think that although Sunak is Indian, he is a "complete British man", and is "very British" in terms of style, opinions, morality and thoughts.
However, the Indian blood flowing in Sunak's body, as well as his intentional or unintentional expression of his recognition and love for Indian culture, has also been welcomed by many Indians.
As a Hindu believer, Sunak claims to not eat beef in his life, and often puts the " Elephant-Headed God " statue representing good luck and protection in Hindu mythology on the desk.
After being re-elected as a member of the British House of Commons in 2017, he took the oath to the Hindu classic " Bhagavad Gita ".
In 2020, after becoming the first Indian-born prime minister in the UK, Sunak once lit candles at the official residence of the Finance Minister at No. 11 Downing Street to celebrate Diwali.
In April this year, Sunak was in controversy because his wife did not become a British citizen and used it to avoid taxes. At that time, he explained to the British media: "My wife loves India and she will eventually return there to take care of her parents." This reply obviously attracted another wave of favor from the Indian people.
In the Conservative Party leader dispute in August, Sunak affirmed the importance of British-Indian relations, saying that he hoped that the relationship between the two countries would tend to be more "two-way exchanges." He also said: "The UK can learn a lot from India".
At that time, some Indians believed that if Sunak entered Downing Street, Britain and India could build a closer bilateral relationship.
This time, when I was expecting Sunak to win, due to the special nature of time, some people were mixed with different emotions.
Former Indian diplomat Rajiv Dogra believes: "Sunak becomes the prime minister and will be a great gift for the British Diwali Festival, which is also one of the reasons for India to celebrate."
An Indian netizen wrote on social media: "Sunak, as a member of Parliament, once swore the "Bhagavad Gita". If he repeats the same action after being elected as prime minister, what a great day it would be for India! This year happens to be the 75th anniversary of our independence from Britain."
In fact, Sunak is not the first Indian person to serve as a national leader overseas. US Vice President Harris , Portuguese Prime Minister Costa, etc. have Indian backgrounds, and when they were elected, they also aroused the pride and joy that Indians could not hide.
Some media advised the Indian people to calm down for this purpose. After all, these Indian-born foreign politicians have left India and are not Indians in any sense now.
There are also netizens with an African avatar reminding on Twitter that don’t expect what Sunak will do for India, and see what Africans get from Obama .
03
For China, before the election, Sunak has always advocated the development of "maturity and balance" with China, and has expressed his hope to promote the restart of China-UK economic dialogue.
However, in the "big dye vat" of the overall British political arena to show strength against China, Sunak did not unexpectedly change his words.
During the election debate, he declared that on the first day of becoming prime minister, he would "stop China from taking over British universities, shut down all Confucius Institutes and , and order the British MI5 to protect its own businesses and government agencies from threats from Chinese cyber hackers."
Sunak also put two "hats" on China that conservative politicians often hang on their mouths: "In the UK, China is stealing our technology and infiltrating our universities; internationally, they support the fascist invasion of Ukraine by purchasing oil."
Sunak also promised to cooperate with US President Biden and leaders of other allies to "change the West's ability to deal with China's threat."
Gao Jian believes that the British Conservative Party includes the British political circle. If you indulge in Cold War thinking and zero-sum game , then the UK's domestic and diplomatic affairs will face a larger crisis in the future.
To give a simple example, the central government is so chaotic now. What should I do if Scotland holds an "independence referendum" next year? Scotland has already said that a second "independence referendum" will be held in 2023 regardless of whether the central government agrees or not.
The historical and cultural background of this referendum is completely different from the last time. When the UK did not "Brexit" before, Scotland, as part of the UK, was an underdeveloped region and enjoyed the welfare benefits of EU . The first "referendum" choice was not independent, and there were practical interests to consider. Now that the UK is "Brexit", this is a structural change. What will happen to the UK if a split Scotland occurs?
Gao Jian said that the British political system performed very poorly in dealing with the post-Brexit social crisis. To what extent can Sunak recover the crisis after taking over? "I personally have a pessimistic attitude." The British Conservative Party struggles and internal conflicts have shown no signs of easing so far.
has only two years left for them unless they disband the parliament early and declare the general election. But they don't have the courage because in the latest polls, Labour Party is already ahead of the Conservatives.
Labor is leading, not because some of them can save the situation in the UK, but because the Conservatives really disappointed the British people.
Will the Labor Party learn from its mistakes in the future and come up with constructive plans, the outside world will wait and see.
Image from the Internet
